The Brevard Federation of Teachers announced this week that President Dan Bennett will step down to return to teaching and be replaced by Vice President Anthony Colucci.

Bennett has been president of the teachers union for two years and before that served as vice president for eight years. He will step down in July to teach at Space Coast Jr./Sr. High School in Port St. John. Vanessa Skipper, the current second vice president, will replace Colucci as vice president.

Skipper is currently teaching at Cocoa High School, but will not return to the classroom next school year to serve as union vice president. There will be an election to find a new second vice president to replace Skipper.

"Defending this profession is never easy and progress can be hard to notice," Bennett said on Facebook, adding that he makes the decision with a heavy heart. "Against a political tide that has tried to wash us away, I am proud of BFT’s successes in protecting both traditional public schools and hundreds of individual teachers."

During Bennett's presidency, the union secured a 1.3 percent raise for teachers in 2016 and a 1.5 percent raise for teachers in 2018.

Bennett said now that his daughter is going into high school, he wants to return to teaching. Bennett previously taught at Space Coast Jr./Sr. High School, Central Middle School in West Melbourne and in Broward County.

Caroline Glenn is the Education Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact her at caglenn@floridatoday.com or 321-576-5933, or follow her on Twitter @bycarolineglenn and like "Education at Florida Today" on Facebook.